The present invention relates to the popular drinking game known as beer pong, apparently known in some locations as “Beirut”. It involves bouncing ping pong balls on a flat surface into a series of standard party/beer drinking cups containing beer or another liquid beverage. Depending on the rules established before a game starts, if one lands her/her bounced ping pong ball into a cup, the bouncing player can either drink the cup contents or dictate that another player of his/her choice drink. The empty cup is removed leaving fewer targets to aim for. See also, Radhakrishnan U.S. Published Application No. 2006/0027971 for other rule variations.
The game has become so well known that there are college pong leagues and intercollegiate teams. Sophisticated pong-related devices have been disclosed including the table with cooling system of Herro et al U.S. Pat. No. 8,235,389, and electromechanical moving target table from Hoffer U.S. Pat. No. 8,028,995. There's an arcade game version per Lombardi U.S. Pat. No. 8,146,921. And the elaborate apparatus of Max et al U.S. Published Application No. 2012/0225742 includes a rounded backboard on a stand with netting. While the latter showed different sized holes, not all are meant to hold standard size drinking cups.
Numerous other pong-playing accessories have been disclosed. These include the cup holder of Webb et al U.S. Pat. No. 7,805,959 and pong cup arranging device of McDonnell et al U.S. Published Application No. 2011/0220665. A portable table, that also floats, is the subject of Brown U.S. Published Application No. 2012/0256378.
The typical pong playing cup in a 10, 12, or 16 oz. size made from polystyrene is most often aligned on a flat table, or situated like the 10 pins of bowling (rows of 1, 2, 3 and then 4) into holes for suspending from the cup rims. Red cups of these ilk are so popular as to justify country song lore. See, Toby Keith's “Red Solo Cup”. These “larger” size cups are not meant to be fully filled (to the brim) with beer during play. A bounced pong ball is only meant to land in a cup half filled or less for the winning bouncer to drink from or designate somebody else to drink empty. For hard liquors and even semi-solid drinks (like Jello® shots), these cups are too large. A typical shot glass would hold much less alcohol, whether its whiskey, rum, gin or numerous other alternatives.
What is needed is a device for situating on or about smaller drinking disposable cups, of the 5, 7 or 8 oz. variety, most often clear and made from PET, for situating IN the standard larger pong drinking cup. This invention addresses that need with Pong Size Adapters or “PSA's”, more affectionately referred to herein as cup rim adapters or Rimmerz™ (or alternately, Rimshotz™).